We’re getting very close to a pretty exciting date for us at the Trust. On the 1st of November we’re launching our new ‘Aspirational Awards’ funding initiative, and I wanted to talk a bit about the development journey we’ve been on over the last six months to get to this exciting stage.

I should probably say with a bit of context first of all that, at the Trust, each of our funding initiatives are underpinned by what we call ‘theories of change’. In basic terms, this means that there is an idea which we believe when supported and acted on correctly, will support transformational change for the people we support: care experienced young people and people affected by dementia.

One of our theories of change is that when people are given genuine space, time and opportunity to shape and influence the issues that affect them, then something really special happens. This isn’t a revolutionary idea by any means, but it’s often only given lip-service by those in power, and less often seen in practice. And that’s something which clashes with a personal view of mine which is, if you believe in something then there’s no point in doing it half-heartedly – you might as well go for it.

It was with this in mind that we started to develop an approach for Aspirational Awards led by young people themselves.

Aspirational Awards are about providing care experienced young people with the opportunity to think big about their future and apply for grant funding from the Trust to support their ambitions in life. Again, a fairly simple theory of change here is that, when empowered to decide what they want to achieve and then provided with some financial support to help them along the way, care experienced young people can achieve anything they want to in life.

As this initiative is based on care experienced young people applying to us directly for funding, it felt essential that it be care experienced young people who would ultimately make the decisions on these applications. Not only that, we felt that young people should lead the design of the funding initiative from beginning to end; ranging from what should be the overarching aims and objectives of the initiative, right through to the nuts and bolts of designing an evaluation process and being there to support applicants when funding opens.

With this commitment in mind, we recruited a group of 12-15 young people from a range of care experiences and backgrounds who would become volunteer advisors to the Trust to work specifically on this initiative. We held our first ‘big’ meeting in April this year in the Prince’s Trust Wolfson Centre, and since then we’ve met over 20 times to develop something which I think has the potential to really transform the lives of care experienced young people.

Not only that, but those young people who have been part of the group have themselves really developed at the same time. I’ve seen first-hand a noticeable development in their public speaking, leadership skills and ability to resolve conflict. And that’s only in the first six months; this is a three year project, where some of them will go on to be trained as paid grant assessors as well as gain skills in areas such as evaluation, budgeting and application writing.

Since that first big meeting, the group have come on leaps and bounds and the workshops almost run themselves. That’s in part because we’ve developed strong relationships – another cornerstone of the work we do at the Trust – but really more of a testament to the sense of responsibility, maturity and pride that each young person has brought to the group.

One of my initial concerns was that it might take a while to get a productive discussion going around subjects that could be seen as dry (due diligence process anyone?) or abstract. More fool me! It will come to no surprise to anyone who has worked with young people that, when given a platform to speak about something that’s important to them, they generally tend to take it. They’re also a huge amount of fun!

It has by no means been a completely seamless process, nor will it be, and we’ve had a few challenges along the way, but as we (rather frantically) prepare for the launch of Aspirational Awards, I feel a huge degree of trust that the group have developed something spectacular for young people. That’s not trust in them simply as ‘young people’ or ‘care experienced’, but rather, trust in them as competent, conscientious individuals who have been able to bring a level of insight and experience which I simply could not have.

It’s inexcusable that services for care experienced young people have followed a top-down approach for so long. However, I see a lot of hope that this tide seems to be turning and we’re beginning to see young people being empowered in many aspects of their lives – not least through the excellent efforts of some of the organisations we work with such as Who Cares? Scotland, our peer mentoring programmes, and, of course, our Champions Boards.

As a funder, it’s important that we set an example in this respect – by having the voice of young people at the centre of what we actually fund. It’s being in the mind-set of ‘let’s ask young people about that’ and not assuming that the path we’re currently following is the right one.

This can be challenging, as it’s certainly not about shying away from the hard questions; but it means we are really asking young people, and taking the time to listen to and understand what they have to say.

This has co-production at its core. In developing our Aspirational Awards in this way, we have a stronger project because of it and I’m thankful for the commitment of each of the young people who have been on that journey with me over the last six months.

I started this blog to highlight the benefits of empowering young people to take responsibility and trusting in them to thrive in that environment, but have ended up with a tribute to the individuals who have actually embodied it – that feels very fitting somehow.

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Nicola Sturgeon announces root and branch review of the care system, driven by those with experience of care.

Since the First Minister’s announcement on Saturday of a full scale independent review of the care system, we’ve been on a bit of a roller coaster ride here at the Trust.

The announcement of the review in itself is obviously massively important, but it’s the language used by the First Minister to set the context for the review that has really struck a chord. She promised that the review will be driven by those with experience of care – young people themselves. Crucially, the First Minister was also unequivocal about love – to be truly engaged in a review of the care system, we have to acknowledge that every child, regardless of circumstances, deserves to be loved.

Here at the Trust, it’s difficult to find the words to capture the range of emotions we’ve been feeling – excitement, elation, expectation, pride – but regardless of the words, we have the sense that this is a seminal moment. Care experienced young people, and those who support them, have a once in a lifetime opportunity to re-imagine care based on this all important premise.

We’re inspired because from the earliest days of our Programme, we have believed that if young people are offered a safe place and are surrounded by people who are not afraid to show them love, they will find their voice and use it to transform not only their own lives but the lives of care experienced young people across the country. This belief has been at the root of all of our efforts to effect transformational change.

We saw this in action during the passage of the Children and Young People Act. Buoyed up by the success they had in influencing this legislation, care experienced young people dared to think big. They decided to go beyond campaigning for incremental changes to the care system. In the ‘Who Cares’ documentary aired by STV in September, five care experienced people showed enormous courage in openly and honestly addressing the challenges they faced growing up in care, and highlighted the importance of loving relationships in giving them hope for a different future. They took this message of love and hope directly to the First Minister and she clearly heard it.

Love isn’t a word that crops up often in political debate. In Scotland, we’re not always particularly comfortable talking about it in relation to the care system either. Every day, foster carers, residential workers, advocates, teachers, coaches and so many others show their love for young people in the care system in a thousand different ways. They wipe tears, make meals, listen, hug, encourage, motivate and do all those everyday things that can make such a big difference.

But very few of them will talk about love; in fact, going the extra mile for a child or young person is often something which happens under the radar, because professional boundaries can discourage a human response. In other words, sometimes the system forbids love.

We know some of the reasons behind this, but the key message is that life without love is damaging for children and young people. In the fast moving context of 21st century life, where individuals can increasingly feel the troubling weight of global events, love is something we all have the power to call on.

Loving others helps us to love ourselves, and engage with the world on our own terms. Let’s get behind care experienced young people and support their efforts to bring love and hope into the open, and join with them to re-imagine the kind of care that will consistently celebrate, sustain and nourish them wherever they live at whatever stage they’re at in their lives.

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This blog is courtesy of MCR Pathways who run the pioneering programme ‘Young Glasgow Talent’.

Young Glasgow Talent – What is it?

Young Glasgow Talent by MCR Pathways is a schools based mentoring and talent development programme. They match top quality mentors with care experienced young people. MCR Pathways vision is simple; they want care experienced and disadvantaged young people to have the same educational outcomes, career opportunities and life chances as any other young person.

Recently, they have been celebrating some of their ‘Weegie Heroes’….. read on!

Weegie Heroes by David Sherlock

“Weegie Heroes has been an inspiring YGT experience. Throughout our celebration, we’ve heard incredible stories from every kind of person and organisation involved in our programme. They have all been fantastic, and show the fantastic work Glaswegians from all over the city are putting into helping the young people who live here. Some of the most moving stories have come from our young people. This one is no exception!

“Here we share an amazing story of commitment, motivation and resilience. This story was written by our Pathways Coordinator, Danielle. Based in every YGT school, each of our PCs support our mentors who are guiding and helping our young people. The young person in this PC’s school has just finished her exams and achieved some truly fantastic results. It’s a testament to the true power of mentoring. Here’s their story.”

“It is with great delight that I am writing about one of my very hardworking and inspirational young people, Chloe*. Chloe has recently shown astounding motivation, commitment and resilience when she performed exceptionally well in her recent exams, despite enormous pressure. My young person is a carer for her mother. Chloe also suffers from health issues herself, which cause her a lot of pain when she takes on too much at once.

Chloe was referred to me by her Pastoral Care Teacher as she felt that Chloe could really benefit from the support of a mentor. When I first met her, she was very down at the time and seemed like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. To begin with, she was quite dubious about mentoring but with a little coaxing, she decided to give it a try. Shortly after that, she was matched with her mentor Jacqui, who Chloe feels has helped her massively. Being able to talk to Jacqui about her family and her school work has really helped Chloe to cope and to remain focussed on achieving her potential. Jacqui helped Chloe with exam preparation and also helped her to look at courses which she hopes to apply to this academic year.

Being a young carer can be an extremely tough challenge at times, however Chloe balanced her responsibilities whilst undertaking four Highers and a NAT 5 last year. Chloe also took part in a course at the University of Strathclyde called the Access to a Career in Teaching Programme which is a course that she commits herself to every week as she has her sights set firmly on a career as a Teacher when she finishes S6 in June 2017 (either Primary School or an English Teacher). Therefore it is truly amazing that in the face of all of this adversity and enormous pressure that Chloe achieved a tremendous 3A’s and 2B’s for her Highers and NAT 5 for her 2016 exams… what an achievement!

Chatting to Chloe now, I see a huge difference from the girl who I first met. She has grown so much in confidence and she finally believes that she is capable of doing whatever she sets her mind to. This time last year, she predicted that she would perhaps manage to get C’s in her exams so she is so proud that she managed to do so well. It is lovely to see her smiling and she has really come out of her shell and I really believe that Jacqui has had a lot do with that. I can’t thank Jacqui enough for the support she has given Chloe so far, and I can’t wait to see what they will achieve together this term.

I am so proud of Chloe and what she has achieved this year. She persisted where many people would have given up and her triumph is a reflection of the inspirational young lady that she is growing up to be. She has made so much progress since she joined the YGT mentoring programme and she continues to set herself more challenges. This year she has her sights set on achieving 4 more Highers within school and even Advanced Higher English at night classes at college. Chloe is the epitome of Young Glasgow Talent and she personally demonstrates just how far you can go in life if you have motivation, commitment and resilience… you go girl!”

*Child’s name has been changed to protect their identity.

We have many more young people signing up for Young Glasgow Talent’s help. They need mentors to make a huge difference to their confidence, educational outcomes and future life chances. Can you help them? You’ll guide disadvantaged, but utterly deserving and ambitious, young people through their education. Find out more about Becoming A Mentor.

We’re always looking for new mentors to reach all the new young people who are coming on board with the programme. Help us spread the word by letting your friends and family know how worthwhile mentoring can be using the ‘share’ buttons below!

Can your organisation help? To become involved in our Talent Taster programme, alongside our partners such as Glasgow Life and The Herald, simply GET INVOLVED! We can’t wait to work with you to offer our city’s most needy a gateway to an expanding menu of opportunities and tasters of university, college and employment.

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This week we welcome guest blogger Paula Brown, Dementia Friendly Communities Project Co-Ordinator at an Lanntair. an Lanntair run dementia friendly projects in the Western Isles that are funded by the Life Changes Trust. That means we get a free scone!

We did a spot of summer baking at Solas Day Centre today. Strawberries and clotted cream over fresh, warm scones.

I was quite surprised at how dementia strips confidence – I heard so many worries about feeling incapable. ‘Oh no, I can’t.’ ‘I used to but not now.’ ‘Oh no, you do it.’ ‘My hands can’t do it.’

But gently making a start, asking about how to do it – ‘do we add salt?’ ‘Should we mix the butter and sugar together first or rub the butter into the flour?’ – I found myself taking a step back as everyone joined in with quips ‘There’s a cow out back for the milk!’ and I played along with ‘I couldn’t catch the cow so I had to buy a pint of milk’.

Three ladies joined in with me weighing, measuring, discussing recipes, rolling, cutting, brushing with egg and the scones baked up perfectly so everyone could enjoy eating them. The conversation went into baking and fruit growing and it was a natural collaborative effort to clean up and wash up.

The recipe was (we made 17)

1lb (450g) SR flour

4oz (125g) butter, a pinch of salt

2pz (50g) caster sugar

we measured 350ml of milk but only used about 320ml of it

You need a soft dough that isn’t too sticky

1 beaten egg to glaze

We rubbed the butter into the flour, stirred in the sugar and salt and mixed in the milk. We dusted the table with a little flour and gently flattened the dough to around an inch deep and then cut out rounds with a cookie cutter. A quick brush with beaten egg and they were in the oven for about 15 minutes.

They were not even cold before they were all gone!

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Today we have a guest blog by Kate Swaffer (@KateSwaffer) on (in)appropriate language use in dementia. Right in time for our #demphd chat today at 11 am British time! Your #demphd team ( Grant, Julie, Paul, Clarissa)🙂

Dementia is heavily covered in the media. From Dementia Awareness Weeks to national guidelines and documentaries, dementia becomes ever more present in everyday life. With such a heavy media coverage of, it is likely that there are some issues that we people with dementia feel are inappropriate.

The problem is that too often, the rights of many people with dementia are not being respected when it comes to the way we are talked about, or referred to publicly, by people without dementia, such as journalists, health care professionals and care partners.

Yet again, during another two recent Dementia Awareness Weeks, we have been blitzed by articles and stories in the print, radio, television…

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This blog is courtesy of Donna Cunningham, Project Director at MCR Pathways. Here she talks about their pioneering programme ‘Young Glasgow Talent’.

Young Glasgow Talent – What is it?

Young Glasgow Talent by MCR Pathways is a schools based mentoring and talent development programme. We match top quality mentors with care experienced young people. MCR Pathways vision is simple; we want care experienced and disadvantaged young people to have the same educational outcomes, career opportunities and life chances as any other young person.

To achieve this, mentors guide their young person through their education so that they get the very best out of it. To be there, listen to and support them. To help them find, grow and use their talents. This enables our young people to discover, and proceed confidently, along their chosen pathway. To employment, further education or higher education.

Young Glasgow Talent also provides Talent Tasters. These provide a taste of jobs, careers and all that Glasgow has to offer in arts, culture and sport. Job Tasters are a radical new take on work experience in a way that works for our young people. Sports, Arts and Cultural experiences are a key part of our support to enrich and ensure our young people have every opportunity to experience, participate, learn new skills and perhaps even go on to a successful career in the field. The Taster feedback from our young people has been excellent, reflecting the invaluable opportunities these experiences guarantee. They return to school with fresh inspiration and aspirations!

What’s it like to work for MCR Pathways?

I am so proud to hold the position of Project Director for the MCR Pathways Young Glasgow Talent Programme in Glasgow. Working with young people has always been the most rewarding part of my 32 years in education. So when we discussed me moving to MCR from St Andrew’s Secondary School, (after 12 years!) I was apprehensive. Not of the new job, but of not working directly with the young people. However, 3 years on, being part of something transformational that is supporting ALL of our city’s most disadvantaged has more than compensated! I’m glad to say I still see and communicate with many of the young people I supported. It’s an honour to be a part of their lives and stories. I blag invites to other events that our youngsters are involved in just to see them!

Our Young Glasgow Talent mentoring programme was trialled at St Andrew’s Secondary School. It was a great success! It was all due to the fantastic staff, families, young people and many quality partners we worked with. We quickly found that what made the biggest impact on our young people was the introduction of one to one mentoring. We knew we had something special from early on in the programme and it was just about nurturing and developing this with every other ‘additionality’ we could secure from partners. For four years we worked directly with youngsters and built the foundations of the programme. The programme has gone from strength to strength since, as we’ve brought on an additional 9 schools and 250 mentors. We don’t for a moment think we are anywhere near where we will finally take this programme as we scale it over the next 3 years….it’s so motivating! Everyone has something to bring and our diversity of mentors is even more significant than our diversity of each of our individual young people….all of them are amazing!

I am humbled and inspired on a daily basis. Especially listening to our Pathways Coordinators talking about the challenges our mentors are supporting our young people through and the fantastic outcomes they are subsequently achieving. Nicole, one of our Ambassadors quoted “A mentor 100% changed my life, 100%!” I absolutely believe that and have felt and witnessed it many times over.

At this stage of the academic year, approximately 61 of our mentored young people will be leaving our 10 schools. Of those almost 50% are leaving from S6 which means they’ll have much more confidence and the solid foundations to start their adult life. This is testament to our schools and our mentors who have supported and encouraged them to return to school for a fifth and sixth year. Lot’s of great stories are emerging regarding employment, college and university and we are really excited to be introducing our YGT Next Steps programme that will support our leavers in their transition and beyond. This has been designed by our young people for our young people and mentors and will launch in June 2016.

I would urge anyone who even just ‘thinks’ they may be able to commit to our programme to come along to an Info Session and get on board. It’s such a rewarding experience!

You Can Get Involved & Make the Difference!

Can you help a young person realise their full potential and be defined by their talent not their circumstances?

One hour a week and a willingness to put a young person first are all you need.

You’ll make and experience a life-changing difference in helping a young person to find, grow and use their talents.

MCR Pathways is a pioneering partnership of the MCR Foundation and Glasgow City Council and actively supported by an increasing number of Glasgow’s leading organisations including Wheatley Group, Glasgow Life, University of Strathclyde, Santander, The Herald, Glasgow Kelvin College, SECC and Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. MCR is also supported with funding from the Life Changes Trust.

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Today kicks off Dementia Awareness Week in Scotland. Richard Baker, Team Leader of the Age Scotland Early Stage Dementia Project, which is funded by the Life Changes Trust, talks about tackling the stigma and how early diagnosis is key to living well with dementia.

This week Age Scotland will be joining Alzheimer Scotland and other organisations working for better support for people with dementia to promote the need for better support and early diagnosis.

This is a key concern for Age Scotland through the work of our Early Stage Dementia Project, supported by the Life Changes Trust. Early diagnosis for someone with dementia can make a huge difference to their ability to live well with the condition. The Scottish Government has made dementia a national priority, and as part of this has introduced a commitment to provide one year’s support for everybody who has been diagnosed with dementia for a year after their diagnosis. This support is provided by link workers who help people with dementia understand the illness, manage symptoms, maintain their connections with their local community and help them make plans for their future.

However, while there is a huge amount of work going on to raise dementia awareness and tackle stigma around the illness, there is still a huge amount to do. Depending on the measure used, either a third or a half of people who have dementia in Scotland have not yet received a diagnosis. A UK survey by the Alzheimer Society found that more than half of people seeking a diagnosis for dementia have delayed going to their GP by at least a year and nearly two-thirds of people fear a diagnosis would mean that their life is over.

But people can and do live well with dementia, and support in the early stages is crucial to ensuring this can happen. That is why it is so important to tackle myths and stigma around dementia and make more people aware of the benefits of early diagnosis. At Age Scotland we meet people with dementia who are still contributing to their communities and are the leading voices campaigning for improved dementia services. Their example shows that if people take early action if they are worried about their memory or struggling with other activities, they can still have a rewarding life even if they do receive a dementia diagnosis. Dementia Awareness Week is a great opportunity to highlight this message, and it is vital the work to make all our communities dementia friendly and dementia aware continues all year round.

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Earlier this year, we held the first gathering of our six Trust funded Peer Mentoring projects for care experienced young people.

At the Trust we believe that positive relationships are vital for all of us, supporting our emotional and mental well-being. They are also key to developing our own identity and self-worth.

The power of human connection is often underestimated and I think if we are all honest, at some point in our lives we have been guilty of taking our relationships for granted, whether that be with our friends, colleagues, or family members. I have been fortunate that, throughout my life, I have had support, unconditional love, advice, and encouragement at my fingertips. Since being with the Trust I have become more and more aware of how this has shaped my life. I have always known that it helped me but I don’t think I ever appreciated to what extent. Now, I cannot begin to imagine where I would be without it.

The Trust’s investment in mentoring is recognition that not everyone has had access to consistent, supportive and positive relationships throughout their lives. We’re supporting peer mentoring as one means of increasing the opportunities for care experienced young people to have positive relationships, because young people tell us this is a big gap area.

We think that if young people can widen their social connections, this could open the door to lots of other opportunities.

It is centred upon providing opportunities for stable and supportive relationships for care experienced young people to help them build loving, healthy, interdependent relationships in the future.

Peer mentoring is aimed at providing one-to-one support in a relationship which is entirely voluntary on both sides, as with mentoring more generally. However, the added element is that both the mentor and the mentee will share one or more characteristic.

The gathering of the Peer Mentoring projects at the end of March provided the opportunity for representatives from each of the projects to come together to share their progress, what they have learned and the challenges they have faced during the first six months of their projects. There was also space to share ideas around other topics including the secrets to successful mentoring matches, training and development for mentors and the support available for both mentors and mentees.

While the projects are all at different stages, and they have varied experience of mentoring, they have each made good progress in the first six months, including recruiting staff, developing training materials and the recruitment of mentors and mentees.

Some organisations are new to focusing specifically on care experienced young people, which brings new opportunities to raise awareness and build understanding of care experienced young people at community level.

There have been some challenges in reaching prospective mentors with care experience who are ready to take on a mentoring role, which has sometimes meant projects adapting their recruitment methods and criteria. Feedback from the day highlighted that the space to discuss some of these challenges was particularly useful for the projects, and the Trust hopes to continue these gatherings in the future.

For me personally, it was fantastic to see the passion that all of the people working on these projects have for peer mentoring and our shared belief that it will make a profound difference to the lives of care experienced young people. Their willingness to share their learning with each other and the Trust, as well as be open to learning and trying new things, was particularly exciting and we look forward to hosting the next gathering in October.

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A few weeks ago, we posted a blog which described a day in the life of a volunteer peer mentor with VOCAL (Voice of Carers Across Lothian). This blog describes a day in the life of by Hazel Waddell, who co-ordinates the peer mentors for VOCAL. VOCAL provide peer support to carers of people with dementia. This service is one of the Trust’s 12 funded dementia peer support and befriending projects.

My role at VOCAL is quite complex as I wear a few hats as Carer Support Worker.

One of the newest bits of work I am involved with is VOCAL’s peer mentoring project. We had a very small pilot of this kind of work about 18 months ago and have relatively recently been awarded Life Changes Trust funding to further develop this work to support a much larger number of carers of people with dementia.

The pilot was led by my line manager and we are working together to develop the work further. Today we met to plan the recruitment of a few more carers to become mentors. We have already trained a group and as they are settling well into their roles well we are looking to expand the team to make it as diverse as possible. While there is lots of common ground in people’s stories, we are keen to ensure we have a good mix of male and female, ages and caring relationships and experiences to ensure the best possible service for clients. At today’s meeting we discussed approaching a few carers who have used VOCAL’s services previously to ask if they would be interested in sharing their stories in this way.

Next on my peer mentoring to-do list is to log in to our case management system to see if my Carers Support Worker colleagues have made a referral for a mentor. There are two referrals waiting for me which is not too much of a surprise as everyone in the team is able to see the benefits to carers of being mentored by someone who has lived experience of caring for a family member with dementia.

The Carers Support Workers who have made the referrals have read the mentor profiles and suggested the mentor they think would be the best fit for their client’s needs and have listed the times that suit their client the best. This is great and it means I can make contact with the mentors to see if they are free to meet (as always checking that the carer and mentor don’t live too close together or know each other in other parts of their life) and book a room here at the Carers Centre (the mentors and carers always meet at the Carers Centre for their first meeting and then after that meet in cafes). I send the mentors emails and wait for replies. This should not take too long as they are very good at responding (once again I think how helpful smart phones are to our work!).

Next I switch hats and contact some of the clients I am working with as a Carers Support Worker. I really enjoy the carer support work and I think it really helps me with my peer mentor coordinator role as the work, while different to the mentoring role, has some similar lessons, pleasures and challenges, all of which I can use to support the peer mentors.

By the end of the day I have heard back from both mentors and have scheduled their meetings for next week. I have also checked the case management system and am pleased to see that all the mentoring meetings for last week took place and I can see from the case notes the mentors have made that there were no issues that they are seeking my support with.

VOCAL’s Training Officer will be pleased that one of the mentoring clients is also interested in attending one of our stress management courses and that the mentor has booked them a place.

I draft a few notes for next weeks mentors team meeting and head home, happy in the knowledge that the work we do helps provide vital support to carers from someone who has walked in their shoes.

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Last week I was lucky enough to be part of a special day in Edinburgh, marking the journey so far of eight different Champions Boards from different parts of Scotland.

Care experienced young people, and staff who are passionate about giving these young people a platform, got together to celebrate the award of funding from the Life Changes Trust. The young people led the day, sharing their experiences of Champions Boards so far and their ideas for the future. The energy, drive and determination in the room was palpable. So was the air of competition, as various folk took part in our giant jenga challenges……

…and vied with each other over the most outrageous get-up for the photo booth!

So what’s all the fuss about? Why do Champions Boards matter so much? On the face of it, Champions Boards themselves might not seem like an especially radical idea. They bring together senior representatives of services and agencies in local areas who have responsibilities for young people who are in care and care leavers, and get them round the table with care experienced young people. The aim is to improve services and supports on the ground, so they have a much better opportunity to achieve their potential. So far, so what?

The thing is, we know that when people who make decisions about budgets and services hear directly from the people on the receiving end of those decisions, magic tends to happen. Issues that might seem abstract suddenly become very real and powerful, when a young person explains the debilitating impact of twenty placement moves or the horror of being separated from a much-loved brother or sister. The sense of apathy and/or fatalism which can pervade the discussion falls away and is replaced with a desire to act.

The stark reality is that young people growing up in care are still very much caught in a system, and systems are not famous for their ability to listen and respond to the needs of individuals. That’s why at the Life Changes Trust we’re excited about the possibilities presented by Champions Boards. We think that done well, they can create a much-needed space for care experienced young people to have a voice, and, just as important, to be properly heard by the people who are responsible for their care and well-being.

Please note the phrase “properly heard”. Listening is a fine art, and we’ve all experienced people in positions of power who haven’t listened to us. The GP who does not take our health concerns seriously; the head teacher who will not agree to a few small adjustments to the school day for a child who is struggling; the boss who moves us to an evening shift even although there’s no transport available in our town to get us to work at that time.

Listening to people, acknowledging their concerns and creating the space for them to be involved in developing a solution takes time and effort. It also takes a particular value system – you have to believe in people.

Anyone who took part in the event last week, and watched the young people doing their thing, could be in no doubt about the potential of Scotland’s care experienced population. However, those who run services and make decisions about budgets are often under huge pressure – they’re supposed to have all of the answers, and to act quickly. We should not underestimate the challenge of changing this culture – working collaboratively, taking the time to genuinely get to know young people and to create opportunities for them to lead is a radically different approach.

By investing in Champions Boards, we are recognising that not only do care experienced young people need to have many more opportunities to develop their confidence and speak out about issues that matter to them, people in decision-making positions also need to sharpen up their listening skills and remember their accountability to the young people sitting in front of them.

It’s no longer good enough to say that the problem of challenging poor outcomes is too great. There is a huge wealth of talent, experience and passion for change amongst care experienced young people in Scotland. There are also so many people involved in running and delivering services who want things to change. Champions Boards are spaces to harness the collective abilities of young people, staff and senior decision-makers. They have grown out of the belief that things can and must improve, and care experienced young people must be at the heart of creating a new reality.